As he said this, the Great Spirit Emperor’s gaze lifted up to see the many flying ships and cultivators all heading for the same destination as him.
Hearing his words, both Jiang Chengxuan and Jiang Ruyin nodded their heads before responding in a polite manner.
"We understand."
The Great Spirit Emperor just nodded his head before a certain flying ship going right above them caught his attention.
His eyes squinted as if he had recalled something from the patterns of the flying ship as it slowly passed by, however, the next moment, it stopped midair and turned its entire body around while descending down at the same time to face the Great Spirit Emperor on the same level.
"Long time no see, Great Spirit Emperor. It seems you’ve arrived quite early in the gathering this time."
Suddenly, a loud voice followed by a hearty laugh came from the flying ship, causing Jiang Ruyin to become curious about who the person that could talk to her father, supposedly one of the strongest figures in the world, like that.
An unnoticeable smile appeared on the Great Spirit Emperor’s face as he replied in a calm but friendly tone of voice.
"No one apart from both of us has arrived yet. Guess we’re early this time, indeed."
Just after he said this, a tall figure of a middle aged man appeared at the front of the flying ship before him, stroking his beard as he let out a sigh, as if reminiscing about something.
The middle aged man looked at the Great Spirit Emperor as he spoke, "It’s been such a long time. We rarely see eachother in hundreds of years now. Leading a major faction is indeed a tiresome work, contrary to how grand it may sound like.
You must be even more busy than me, since an Immortal Dynasty is a lot harder to manage than other powers due to its complex internal structure and the many factions within."
At the end of his sentence, he let out another long sigh.
"Hahaha, having a ton of work in exchange for being at the top of the cultivation world seems like a fair trade. You must sacrifice something to attain something. However, despite that, it seems you still made enough time for your cultivation to advance again. When do you plan on ascending?"
The Great Spirit Emperor said with a slight laugh, placing both of his hands behind his back but restraining his aura, exuding the demeanor of both a friend and an emperor to the middle aged man before him.
"It just happened to advance a little when I accidentally comprehended heavenly rules a few centuries back. Despite that, it will still take me some more time to breakthrough to the next stage. As for ascending, I’ll probably ascend before achieving Grand Perfection."
The middle aged man replied with a smile, shaking his head before turning his gaze to Jiang Ruyin and Jiang Chengxuan behind the Great Spirit Emperor.
His eyes couldn’t help but widen slightly as he discovered Jiang Chengxuan’s cultivation base as he once again looked at the Great Spirit Emperor, speaking out with a chuckle.
"I never got the chance to meet any of your children, but I’ve heard about your eldest son, the crown prince of Great Jiang, being the War God. This must be him, shouldn’t he? You have a good son there, old friend!"
He praised as he stroked his beard, Jiang Chengxuan immediately bowing slightly and cupping his fists.
Jiang Ruyin, on the other hand, followed suit but at the same time couldn’t help but wonder who the middle aged man was to be such a good friend of her father. Such things were never really discovered much in the original novel, so it was a new experience and extraordinary knowledge for her.
The Great Spirit Emperor also smiled and looked back at the two siblings as he spoke, "Do you guys know who he is?"
Both Jiang Chengxuan and Jiang Ruyin shook their head, with the former having a hint as to who this friend of his father may be from the crest of the flying ship he was on, but he didn’t speak about it.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
The Great Spirit Emperor finally let out a small laugh before introducing the middle aged man with a smile on his face.
"He is one of my oldest friends, and also one of the most fearsome cultivators of the older generation."
"The head of the Great Tian Immortal Family, Tian Shenming, otherwise known as the Heaven Ascending Monarch."
...
5 years passed by in an instant, the everchanging seasons carrying away the dust of the past.
Eastern Continent.
Eternal Peak.
Tian Yongheng stared at the Talisman in his hand, looking as indifferent as ever on the outside but scowling inwardly.
He had just recieved this invitation from Kunlun Divine Mountain to participate in a gathering of the entire righteous path held at Kunlun, and the Eternal Peak, without exception, was invited as well.
Any normal person would have been extremely excited to even recieve a personal invitation from Kunlun, not to mention visiting it and seeing all kinds of supreme experts whom they had once only heard about in the legends.
However, Tian Yongheng, obviously wasn’t such a person. He did not want to go to Kunlun at all!
He felt that he could breakthrough to the Ninth Stage of Tribulation Transcendence Realm in 3 or 4 more years at most, and didn’t want to leave the Eternal Peak till he had achieved the even higher Immortal Ascension Realm!
He would be stupid if he had not already guessed from the invitation that Kunlun had already invited all the forces of the righteous path, meaning their would definitely be a great reason for this, not to mention unintentional conflicts that may break out because of the tension between different factions.
On the other hand, if he indeed did not go, then that would not only be akin to making enemies with Kunlun Divine Mountain by not giving them face, but also getting on bad terms with the entirety of the righteous path.
I can’t afford for that to happen, at least not yet!
Should I just send my clone?
Yeah, I can do that. No one can figure it out even by peering into the heavenly secrets because of the system’s concealment, after all!
As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, he quickly decided what to do and called for Yan Jingfei and Jian Qi into the cave abode.
Kunlun’s gathering will officially begin after 3 more years, which means he still had time. In reality, he had already gotten the invitation last year and was too immersed in cultivation, thus choosing to ignore it since the Talisman had been placed outside of his cave abode by one of his disciples who received it from a Kunlun disciple.
Well, it’s not like I care that much but still, for the sake of maintaining peace within the righteous path since the demonic path and Demon Race are already up to no good...
As he was thinking of this, both Yan Jingfei and Jian Qi showed up before the entrance of his cave abode.
Lifting the restrictions, he allowed them to enter as they bowed respectfully in front of him, cupping their fists.
Yan Jingfei had just broken through to the Void Refinement Realm last year when she got a sudden enlightenment, and Jian Qi was already in the later stages of Acquired Realm, having cultivated before the Bodhi Wisdom Tree and comprehended the Dao from the Cosmic Manifestation Pond.
With the continously rising Spirit Qi of the Eternal Peak, even if one broke through a major realm, their cultivation speed wouldn’t slow down as much as it normal should. This was how everyone could make quick breakthroughs being here.
Tian Yongheng had speculated that when he reached the Immortal Ascension Realm, the Spirit Qi and Providence of the Eternal Peak and the Dao Field might have already reached the same level as the greatest mythical places or abodes of Human Immortals in the Second Great Mortal World or even surpass them by a tiny margin.
Seeing Yan Jingfei and Jian Qi, Tian Yongheng quickly cleared his throat without making a sound and spoke calmly.
"A grand gathering of the entire righteous path is being held at Kunlun right now, and I received the invitation as well.
However, as you two must already know, I don’t like going out and would rather prefer to just cultivate in peace, but I cannot do that in this case, as not only can the gathering be about a huge matter or something similar, it would also make the outside world detest the Eternal Peak.
"This is why I wish for you two to accompany my clone and go to the gathering in my stead."
As soon as he said these words, Yan Jingfei’s eyes widened in slight shock and Jian Qi immediately became excited.
A chance to go to the Central Continent, that too at Kunlun Divine Mountain for a gathering of the entire righteous path!
Who wouldn’t like it?